My living room is bite-sized but the wall behind the TV felt like a large blank and barren land. The wall needed a whole lotta TLC but I kept coming up empty on how to fix it. To start, I looked at Our Best Hide-The-TV-In-Plain-Sight Tricks and New Ways to Hide the Television — but I wanted a solution that didn't involve spending more money.
Because the living room is super small, the large TV sticks out like a sore thumb and it's the first thing you notice when you walk in the space. After much hemming and hawing over what to do, I finally went with an almost no cost solution. I was able to use the leftover chalkboard paint from a kitchen project and had just enough for the two coats. Thankfully, the measuring, taping and painting took only an hour and then I was off to Paper Source in Pasadena for some decorative paper. I happened to have two matching frames but wanted to change out the artwork in favor of something more modern. It's actually a sheet of gift wrap from Paper Source that was on sale for $1.50. Now the room looks pulled together and the TV isn't the first thing you notice.
EDITOR UPDATE: A very similar but different idea was posted earlier today! Disguise the TV on a Black Wall.
Images: Beth Zeigler
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Yeah, it's all pulled together--yet too symmetrical...
er, okay... so another hiding-your-tv-post in the same day?
In the previous post it was mentioned the biggest complaint by tv-haters was that the tv was just a big black box when it's turned off... and both these posts offer painting a bigger black box behind it as a solution... I really don't get it.
And I will say it again... why hide your tv?? most people have them, you shouldn't be ashamed. And modern tv's are gorgeous pieces of design! embrace them! Unless you have one of those ginormous, ugly 90's tv's, there is NO need to hide them, and I think you actually make it look horrendous when you hide them behind panels or paintings or whatever.
If you don't like tv's... DON'T BUY A TV!
I get it. Looks really good!
Pulled it off beautifully. Love the cabinet too.
@pinkandfluffy: Hallelujah! I completely agree. I love my TV and do not want to hide it. It isn't large, but it's sleek and looks great on my high gloss black console. I work in TV...why would I want to hide mine when it pays the bills? :)
My favorite of the "hide the TV" solutions, and by far the most economical.
I like this a lot.
I like my tv.
I do get it, but I wish these posts worked for ugly, big, hideous TVs, and not for these sleek, very expensive TVs. What's the point in spending money on a beautifully designed TV, only to be ashamed of it and be willing to paint a huge, black rectangle on your wall just to conceal it?
I get it too, and I like it. She's camouflaging the tv - not hiding it. It blends in to the room now so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
Very nice. The black is now balanced - good graphic look.
My main issue with this post is that they have their flat tv on a stand. I always thought the point of having a flat tv was so you could mount it on the wall.
I imagine that it would look 10x better mounted to the wall.
We just painted our fireplace black as an accent and it did a great job a toning down the TV as well. I also love the movie theater effect it gives at night.
http://thecluelesshomeowners.blogspot.com/2010/08/home-stretch.html
I think the t.v. stuck out like such a sore thumb before because there was absolutely nothing else on that wall. I would have started minimizing the t.v. by hanging some artwork on the wall or putting some tall vases on the media stand.
I never understood the "hide the TV" concept, since TVs have been treated like a part of the furniture since they were first created. But to each their own...
I would love to mount my TV on a wall, but there's no good wall in my living room to mount a TV on. My 80s house still has the fireplace as the focus and windows on every other wall. There's a spot to put a TV in one corner, but that doesn't work well for a flat screen.
Wow, I totally dig this. I can't steal this idea, now. I especially liked how the newly painted portion of the wall breaks up the wall and actually makes the wall look bigger in the "bite size room". Very cool!
Interesting, I just did a similar thing but extended the lines out about 4 inches on each side of tv. However, I wasnt trying to camo my teevee, rather make it look even cooler. I used a color called fresh clay, on a cream wall. Dont get it twisted, a modern tv is beautiful!